Burned Body Found As Wildfire Burns Near Los Angeles

Thousands of
homes remained evacuated Sunday as two massive wildfires raged in
tinder-dry California hills and canyons, and authorities said a burned
body was found in one neighborhood swept by the flames.The body
was discovered Saturday evening outside a home on Iron Canyon Road in
Santa Clarita, just north of Los Angeles, and detectives are trying to
determine whether the person was killed by the blaze or another cause,
Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Rob Hahnlein said.

The home also may have burned, he said.

The
area was among those ordered evacuated as the fire raged through brush
withered by days of 100-degree temperatures as Southern California
sweltered through a heat wave. Since Friday, the fire, propelled by
gusty winds, has burned up and down ridgelines, blackening 31 square
miles of brush on the edge of Santa Clarita and the Angeles National
Forest.

It was 10 percent contained late Saturday night.

After
flames swept through an evacuated neighborhood, firefighters reported
that some buildings had been engulfed, but it was not immediately clear
whether they were homes, outbuildings or garages, said Nathan Judy, a
spokesman for the U.S. Fire Service.

The area was still unsafe, he said late Saturday night.

"You've
still got hotspots in that area, a lot of smoldering stuff," and trees
that might fall because their roots had burned, Judy said.

Despite
firefighters' efforts, the blaze destroyed sets at Sable Ranch in Santa
Clarita, which has Old West-style buildings used for movie locations.

"It
was a horrific firestorm," owner Derek Hunt told KABC-TV. "At some
point, you know you're defeated and you have to step back and save what
you can. We fought as best as we could."

Smoke and ash from the
fire cast a pall over neighboring Los Angeles. Air quality officials
advised people with respiratory problems to stay indoors.

Bengal
tigers and a mountain lion were among several hundred animals evacuated
Saturday as flames partially ringed the Wildlife Waystation, a nonprofit
sanctuary for rescued exotic creatures in Sylmar. Volunteers showed up
with trucks and trailers to help with the rescue. Later in the day,
firefighters managed to beat back the threat.

More than 200 horses along with goats, rabbits and other animals also were removed from fire areas.

The
fire was 20 percent contained Saturday night. More than 900
firefighters and water-dropping helicopters battled the flames overnight
on several fronts.

"It's not a one-direction type of fire," Judy
said. "It's going in different directions depending on which way the
wind is blowing. It's doing what it wants."

Sunday's forecast
called for low humidity with afternoon and evening winds gusting to 25
mph or more that could once again fan the fire's explosive growth.

About
300 miles up the coast, California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection firefighters battled a 10-square-mile blaze in rugged
mountains north of the majestic Big Sur region.

The blaze 5 miles
south of Garrapata State Park posed a threat to about 1,000 homes and
the community of Palo Colorado was ordered evacuated, Cal Fire said.

Jerri
Masten-Hansen said she and her husband watched the fire creep in toward
them. "We felt threatened this morning and decided we needed to go,"
Masten-Hansen told KSBW-T.

Her sister also left her home down the
road. "I grabbed all the pictures of the kids, and then I took the
paintings of my parents that had been done by a local artist," Ellen
Masten said.